‘Choice’ in Conejo District Schools May Be Restricted

Nearly half of Conejo Valley public schools are targeted to be closed to new students who live outside school boundaries next year, but an administrator said a host of special programs at select campuses may help even out enrollment.

Trustees of the Conejo Valley Unified School District decided Thursday that 10 elementary schools, one middle school and one high school cannot offer “choice” enrollment next year if student counts take them beyond the capacity of the schools, as is projected.

Several parents turned in written concerns opposing caps on out-of-boundary enrollment.

But Meadows Elementary parent Sally Primm agreed with the board’s decision.

“A lot of people try to get into that school because of its wonderful programs and staff,” said Primm, who purchased her home because of its location in the Meadows school boundaries. “I think that’s great, but there have to be limits.”

The choice program, which was implemented two years ago, allows parents to enroll children in the school of their choice anywhere in the district, provided there is space, with preference given to those living within the school boundaries.

Students from outside the boundaries who are already attending a school of their choice may stay. However, younger siblings of those students would not be automatically admitted, but they would be given priority over other students outside the boundaries.

But a resurgence of growth in the Conejo Valley district and the popularity of some schools have closed off choice for many parents.

Schools closed to choice enrollment next year include Acacia, Aspen, Banyan, Glenwood, Ladera, Madrona, Meadows, Weathersfield, Westlake Hills and Wildwood elementary schools; Colina Middle School; and Thousand Oaks High School.

In some cases, large new housing developments have caused the overcrowding. At Madrona, some crowding is due to apartments that opened a year ahead of schedule, said Richard Simpson, assistant superintendent of instruction. And more new homes are planned in the area next year.

Six new classrooms are planned at that school to help ease crowding.

In other cases, parents said the school’s high achievement test scores have drawn so many parents that the door must now be closed.

The problem is different at Conejo Elementary School, where enrollment is lagging because of changing demographics, Simpson said.

“It used to be all residential there, but now it’s near the Civic Arts Plaza . . . so there are fewer students who live in that area,” he said.

Though the school has openings next year, Simpson said the enrollment stays strong because of the Open Alternative Program, in which teachers use innovative methods to help make learning fun and more accessible.

“That draws students from across the district,” he said.

At the secondary level, the district offers several special programs. Many of them were conceived during years of lagging enrollment in the early ‘90s and were not specifically designed to draw students to one campus or another, said Fred Van Leuven, director of secondary education for the district.

But they are an integral part of the district’s choice program, he said.

The district recently reorganized to add sixth-graders to the two smallest intermediate schools, which formerly served only seventh- and eighth-graders.

Van Leuven said the schools offer parents a choice on how they want their children to become accustomed to junior high and high school years.

Westlake and Newbury Park high schools offer advanced anatomy classes, which allow students to work on cadavers to learn about the human body.

Newbury Park High School also offers the International Baccalaureate Program in which students are required to take a series of advanced classes and write a thesis to earn a diploma that is recognized internationally.

Van Leuven said he expects that program to draw students from across the Conejo District and possibly from Oxnard and Camarillo.

The three Conejo Valley high schools also offer Regional Occupational Programs, which offer classes in specific trades. Westlake offers computer-assisted drafting; at Thousand Oaks, there is a class in computer repair; and Newbury Park has a class in bank telling.

Students also can be enrolled in one school and take special program classes at another campus, Van Leuven said.

“These are all part of the choice program,” he said. “You let the students and the parents make the choices. We’re just trying to expose kids to as much as possible to get them ready for the real world.”